Friction device for voting-lever shafts.



PATENTED APR. I0, 1906. OSDIGK.

W. M. DBLAVAN 6c WL I. T. I' FRICTION DEVICE POR VOTI NG LEVER SHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1905.

2 f w f n l nu. d Q.. f ,D @N CEC M 2 001 7m 2m f M wl w 2 d ary/M www" INVENTORS MWA, Qf

ATTORNEY WITNEssEs UNITED STATES PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FmoTloN DEVICE Fon PATENT onirica.

MASSACHUSETTS, AND WILLIAM I. ECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO TRIUMPH TTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- VOTING-LEVER sHAi-iTs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 10, 1906.

Application filed September 18, 1905. Serial No. 279,016.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLARD M. DELA- vAN, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, and WILLIAM I.

T. FosDioir, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Friction Device for Voting-Lever Shafts, of which the following is a specification.

io Thisinvention relates to the class of votingvmachines in which the voting operation is performed by means of voting-levers carried by oscillatory voting-lever shafts, and has for its object to rovide a simple, durable, and inexpensive iction device which shall act to retain the voting-lever shafts in either the voting or non-voting position, so that having been placed in either position by the act of a voter or the operation of the mechan- 2o ism of the machine they will remain iii that position until moved therefrom by act of a voter or by the operation of the mechanism of the machine. With this object in view welhave devised the simple and novel mechanism of which the following description, in

connection with the accompanying drawings, is a'speoiiication, reference characters being used to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a View showing one of the 3o standards of a voting-machine in rear elevation, voting-lever shafts being shown in cross-section and hubs in longitudinal section on the line 1 1 in Fig. 2 looking up, the plungers,` springs, and screw-plugs being 3 5 shown in elevation and the position of a voting-lever in the non-voting and votin osi'- tions being indicated by dotted lines fFig. 2,

hub, and

. 1, a Votingplunger aplevation of a a horizontal section of the standard, screw-plug on the line 2 2 in Fi 4o lever, voting -lever shaft, an

pearing in plan; and Fig. 3 is an e voting-lever shaft detached.l 10 denotes the stanilard of a voting-inachine, which may be of any required design or configuration, 1.1 a voting -lover shaft mounted to oscillate therein, and 12 a votinglever secured to Ithe shaft in any suitable manner, as by a screw 13, and provided with a finger-piece. 14 for convenience in manipu- 5o lation. Each voting-lever shaft is provided with two beari'u .-surfaces .15, which lie at an angle to each'ot er and meet at a ridge indicated by formed b shaft. In order to reduce the wear of the bearing-surfaces to the minimum, we preferably drill a hole in the shaft and insert therein a hardened plug 17, the outer end of which is machined awa with the metal ofv the shaft in forming the earing-surfaces, the plug extending far enough into each bearingsur ace to receive the wear in use.' 18 denotes plungers lying in holes 19 in the standard and adapted to enga e the bearing-surfaces on the voting-lever s afts. Each plunger is rovided with a shank 2O and shoulder 26. he shank lies within a coil-sprin 21., the inner end of .which engages the shou der, the outer end of said spring lying in a socket 22 in a. screw-plug 23, which engages the outer end of Ia hub 24, extending from the standard and preferably Acast integral therewith. The outer ends of the screwplugs are provided with knurled heads 25 for convenience in rotating them to adjust the tension of the springs upon'the plugs.

As indicated in the drawings, the normal position of the voting-levers vis in the horizontal plane, in`which position the operative end of the plunger is in enga ement with one of the bearin -surfaces, in t e present instance the lower earing-surface, asclearly shown at the'top in Fig. l and in Fig. 2. In the operation of voting a voting-lever is swung from theupper dotted position in Fig. 1 to the lower dotted position in said figure. This movement of the lever oscillates the votinglever shaft and casues the ridge between the bearing-surfaces thereon to move over the operative end of the plunger,A 'forcing the plunger backward against the power of the. spring.l A s soon as ythe ridge between the bearing-surfaces has passed the mid-width of the end of the plunger the spring will actto continue the forward movement of the shaft and if given suflicient tension will of itself throw the voting-lever to the voting position when said lever has been swung past the mid-position and the'ridge has passed the niid-width of the end of the plunger. When a voting-lever is in the voting position, as indicated by the dotted position of the lower lever in Fig. 1, the operative end of the plunger will be in engagement with the other 16. These bearing-surfaces may be y machining away the metal f the I IOO . When a Voting-lever is being returned to its i non-voting position, or if sufficient tension is either the voting or non-voting position when the ridge has been carried past the `mid-Width of the end of the plunger.

bearing-surface`that is, the upper one in the present instance upon the voting-lever shaftas is clearlyshown, in which 4position the voting-lever Will remain until returned to its normal position by the act of a voter or through the operation-of the mechanism of the machine, which is not illustrated, as it forms no portion of the present invention.

normal position, as soon as the ridge on the voting-lever shaft has passed the mid-width of the end of the plunger the spring will assist to throw the Voting-lever and shaft to the 2. The combination With a voting-lever[ shaft having bearing-surfaces which meet in a ridge'and a hardened plug inserted in said bearing-surfaces and the ridge, of a springactuated plunger adapted to engage said bearing-surfaces and the ridge, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination with a voting-lever shaft having bearing-surfaces which meet in a ridge, of a plunger adapted to engage either of said bearing-surfaces or the ridge and having a shank and a shoulder and a spring surrounding said shank and bearing against the shoulder, whereby the plunger is forced for- Ward.

4. The combination with a voting-lever shaft having bearing-surfaces meeting in a ridge, of a plunger' adapted to engage said earing-surfaces andridge and having a shank and a shoulder, -a spring surrounding the shank and bearing against the shoulder, a hub which incloses the spring and a screwe plug having a socket n'hieh receives the outer end of the spring by which the tension of the spring is adjusted.

In testimony whereof We allix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLARI) M. DELAYAN. WILLIAM I. T. FOSDICK. W'itnesses:

JAMES W. Setxw, .Lunas PALLON. 

